The wedding was in Sturbridge, Mass, just outside the colonial village. The ceremony was outdoors, and the weather could not have cooperated better--clearly the sun and clouds were pleased to see Karen and Mike wedded. And I'm happy to report that I know Karen's last name now :)
While Karen and Mike skedaddled off to Vancouver for their honeymoon, I continued north to Camp Wigwam, where I spend 12 of my childhood/young adulthood summers. There I serendipitously met Andy Tobias, DNC Treasurer/author, who was a Wigwam alum in the 1960s (and helped bridge the traditions from the Pop and Mandy era to the Strauss era).
Oddly though, traditions that had remained constant for decades were changed this year, thus messing with my schedule. Camp started and ended on a Friday (a bit unusual, as the season usual traverses Thursday to Thursday), but what was really strange was that Color War started and ended a day early. Once in my twelve years did the Color War break occur a few hours early--all other years it started on the evening a week before camp ended. This precise timing leaves room for four days of color war, beach day, packing day, and traveling day.
Thus, I timed my trip to coincide with the final day of Color War; but, when I arrived I discovered that my uncle had prematurely started the competition (leaving an extra day at the end of camp). Thus, I caught the tail end of the last event, group one soccer, in which Grey beat Red in a penalty shootout. However, the disappointment for Red soccer players was short-lived as they realized that their team had amassed enough points in the final afternoon of competition to guarantee victory.
The last night of Color War is "Song and Cheer Night," where both teams sing their original song and cheer and then everyone embraces to celebrate the end of Color War. (The traditional chants include "it just doesn't matter" to signify that there are more important things in life than winning, "we're going to the beach" because the next day they are, and "Toga! Toga!" because the movie "Animal House" will shortly be shown.)
So instead of my trip ending at Song and Cheer night, I traveled with the camp to Old Orchard Beach, where I ate funnel cake, played air hockey, and swam in the Atlantic. Adam (another alum) and I challenged Noah and Nick (counselors) to a game of skins mini-golf, where we were narrowly defeated 10-8.
Then, after a short stop in Boston (where I met up with Diesel at a HoDean event) and NYC (where Seth was kind enough to play host), I came back home to Arlington. My joint going-away party with Miranda on Saturday was a success--lasting a marathon 7.5 hours and including about 50 people. (K Hicks even made a surprise appearance!)
But I must pack and stop procrastinating.
On camp: have you ever listened to the "Camp" episode of "This American Life"? If not, do check it out (www.thislife.org, the favorites section). As the intro suggests, there are camp people and non-camp people, and it is clear into which camp you fall.;)
Yes! In fact, Chu made me listen to it after she heard it on the radio.
Indeed there are definitely camp and non-camp people.